<b>19th Century Shop:</b> Charles Darwin on sexuality and the transmission of hereditary characteristics: Autograph Letter Signed to Lawson Tait. Down, 17 January [1877].

<b>19th Century Shop:</b> MILTON, JOHN. <i>Paradise Lost. A Poem written in ten books.</i> London: 1667. A very rare example with the contemporary binding untouched and with a 1667 title page.

<b>19th Century Shop:</b> Hamilton secures the ratification of the Constitution: <i>The Debates and Proceedings of the Convention of the State of New-York, assembled at Poughkeespsie, on the 17th June, 1788.</i>

<b>19th Century Shop:</b> The social contract “Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains”: ROUSSEAU, JEAN-JACQUES. <i>Principes du Droit Politique [Du Contract Social]</i>. Amsterdam: Michel Rey, 1762

<b>19th Century Shop:</b> “The first English textbook on geometrical land-measurement and surveying”: BENESE, RICHARD. <i>This Boke Sheweth the Maner of Measurynge All Maner of Lande…</i>

<b>Forum Auctions: Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper. May 31, 2018</b>

<b>Forum Auctions, May 31:</b> Simcoe (John Graves). Plan of the Province of Upper Canada with part of the Adjacent Countries, manuscript map… with numerous contemporary annotations. £6,000 to £8,000

<b>Forum Auctions: Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper. May 31, 2018</b>

<b>Forum Auctions, May 31:</b> Book of Hours. Hours of the Virgin [Use of Rome] in Latin, miniature illuminated manuscript on vellum with 6 full-page miniatures and 6 large initials with borders, Flanders, [2nd quarter of 15th century]. £6,000 to £8,000

<b>Forum Auctions, May 31:</b> Pasternak (Boris). <i>Doktor Zhivago</i> original typescript, 2 vol., with manuscript corrections and insertions by the author, the George Katkov copy, c.1956. £100,000 to £150,000

<b>Forum Auctions: Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper. May 31, 2018</b>

<b>Chiswick Auctions, May 30:</b> Ransome (Arthur). <i>Swallows and Amazons,</i> FIRST EDITION, ownership inscription to half title. Only 2,000 copies of the first edition printed. £3,000 to £4,000

<b>Chiswick Auctions, May 30:</b> Sewell (Anna). <i>Black Beauty: His Grooms and Companions. The Autobiography of a Horse. Translated from the original Equine,</i> FIRST EDITION, engraved frontispiece. £3,000 to £4,000

<b>Chiswick Auctions, May 30:</b> Potter (Beatrix). <i>The Tale of Peter Rabbit,</i> FIRST EDITION, FIRST PRINTING, limited to 250 copies [with] the FIRST PUBLISHED EDITION. £12,000 to £15,000

<b>Chiswick Auctions, May 30:</b> Wells (H. G.). <i>War of the Worlds,</i> original Danish manuscript, the text written out in block script ink, with over 620 original drawings in ink and watercolour. £1,800 to £2,200

<b>Chiswick Auctions, May 30:</b> Toulouse-Lautrec (Henri de).- Clemenceau (Georges). <i>Au Pied de Sinai,</i> NUMBER 104 OF 355 COPIES, with the suite of 10 lithographs by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec in 2 states. £1,500 to £2,000

Rare Book Monthly

Autographed Letters and Photographs from David Schulson Autographs

Autographs from David Schulson.

By Michael Stillman

David Schulson Autographs has issued their Catalog 143, a collection of 50 autographed documents, mainly letters and photographs. They come from American and European leaders in politics, war, music, art, literature, film, and science. These are people you know well, even if most died before you were born! Here are some of these signatures.

Winston Churchill is surely England's most notable leader of the last century, perhaps of any. He led his nation to victory in a war that seemed hopeless at the outset. He persevered, and taught his countrymen to persevere, until help finally arrived. However, all political careers have beginnings, usually small. In 1901, Churchill was serving his first term as a Member of Parliament, still 40 years away from greatness. On July 17 of that year, he wrote a friend that he heard the Chairmanship of the London Municipal Society had just opened up, and as a friend/politician, Churchill provided a heads-up to his correspondent. Churchill invites his friend to visit and points to various connections that might help him out. Item 6. Priced at $5,500.

Here is a letter from another great war leader, though this one was the instigator, not a defender. On August 22, 1810, Napoleon wrote his Secretary of War with plans for the Peninsular Campaign against Spain and Portugal. The French Emperor writes of creating a new regiment, and instructs his Secretary, "...you will gather a foot regiment in Turin put together in the following way: 120 men from the 13th regiment of riflemen, 40 men from the 14th, 150 men from the 19th, 130 men from the 23. A total of 440 men, whom you will march from Turin to Perpignan, where they will be incorporated into the new regiment (the 29th regiment of light cavalry). In Milan, gather together another squadron of foot troops made up of 100 men from the 8th regiment of riflemen, 100 men from the 25th, and 100 men from the 6th." Add another 300 from Perpignan, and Napoleon calculated he would have 1,040 men in the new 29th. Talk about micromanaging. Isn't this what you hire generals for? Item 32. $4,500.

Item 10 is an angry postcard from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of the famed detective Sherlock Holmes. Doyle became a dedicated spiritualist later in life, absolutely convinced there was a world of departed spirits and that the right medium could contact them. Even questioning this certainty upset Doyle, who whipped off this postcard to H.S. Hodges, a writer for the Western Chronicle. Evidently Hodges must have challenged Doyle's beliefs, as the mystery writer pens that the "article seems to be the usual ignorant abuse. What is the gentleman's opinion worth compared to... (Doyle cites four "experts" who shared his views)." Hodges evidently further infuriated Doyle by referring to the spirits as "spooks," as Doyle adds, "The mere use of the word 'spooks' for the spirits of our beloved dead is offensive and odious..." $975.

Item 22 is a first day cover honoring the 25th anniversary of Admiral Robert Peary's expedition that is usually cited as the first to reach the North Pole. It is signed by Matthew Henson. The final assault on the Pole was accomplished by Peary, a couple of Eskimos, and Matthew Henson. Though Henson was one of the two Americans to first reach the North Pole, he got little credit back home. The year was 1909 and Matthew Henson was black. Some 35 years after the event, Congress finally awarded Henson the same medal given Peary, and he lived long enough to receive additional honors from Presidents Truman and Eisenhower. $600.

Item 31 is a letter from the pioneering French Impressionist painter Claude Monet. Written on March 21, 1883, Monet thanks Gustave Geffroy for a kind article he wrote about the artist's show. $7,500.

<b>Archives International, May 23:</b> National Banknote Assortment of Original 1st Charter, Plain Back and Date Back Issues. Lot of 6 notes, Includes Pennsylvania Nationals, First National Bank of Selins Grove, 1865, $1… $3,200 to $4,400

<b>Sotheby’s Paris, May 24:</b> JESUITS. <i>Relation de ce qui s’est passé en la Nouvelle France en 1635</i> […] 1672. Period calf binding. Very rare set of letters about life in the French territories among warring Indian tribes. 12,000-18,000 €

<b>ALDE, May 30:</b> BRETON (André). <i>Arcane 17.</i> New York, Brentano's, 1944. One of the 25 first copies with the original etching signed by Roberto Matta. 6000 to 8000 €

<b>ALDE, May 30:</b> HÉRON DE VILLEFOSSE (René). <i>La Rivière enchantée.</i> Paris, Bernard Klein, 1951. One of the 25 first copies on japon with an original watercolored drawing signed by Léonard Foujita. 60,000 to 80,000 €